Many patients are surprised by the answer to their question: What does acupuncture treat? You might be surprised too. Here’s just a short, incomplete list of things that herbal medicine and acupuncture address:

Instead of reaching for yet another cup of coffee or frazzling energy drink, stand up, no matter where you are, and do this tried-and-true, incredibly mobile, no-cost TCM trick for boosting energy levels and clearing the head.

Stand with you feet planted firmly and your knees slightly bent. Let your arms hang loosely at your sides. Relax your shoulders down and away from your ears. Make sure all muscles are relaxed. Alternate rotating from your hips first to the left then right while allowing your slightly bent arms to simultaneously and gently strike across your abdomen and back. Keep your eyes open to avoid dizziness. Breathe deeply in and out from your abdomen. Repeat this flow until you feel your energy beginning to return.

Follow this up with gentle 10-finger tapping on the top of your head. With slightly bent fingers, use the tips to gently tap all around your head focusing mainly along the top. While tapping, breathe deeply in and out maintaining your inhaling slightly longer than your exhaling.

Since this week seems to be about sayings, here is one of the cornerstone ideas of traditional Chinese medicine:
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
The idea behind TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) is to keep the body in balance in the first place so that problems don’t have a chance to get started or to grow from inconsequential things into negative influences to our health. Which makes me think also:
A stitch in time saves nine.

I don’t know where celery’s bad rap started but it’s time to propel celery to the veggie stardom it well deserves.

The English word celery comes to us by way of French by way of Italian by way of Latin borrowed originally from Greek. Celery was important enough to the early Egyptians to be made into garlands which were found buried with King Tutankhamen.

If it was good enough to be buried with kings isn’t it good enough to be included in everyday food habits? Many think so. Celery, along with bell peppers and onions form the triad of staples for Cajun and Creole cuisine.

So what, exactly, is so good about celery? Well, just know that when you include celery into your diet you are eating a good source of beta-carotene, potassium, calcium and vitamins C, B1, B2, B6, coumarins, flavonoids and fiber. It’s believed that coumarins help to lower blood pressure, tone the vascular system and help to prevent cancer.

And, unless you have an allergy to celery, choose to include this delightful veggie to help with fluid retention, constipation, rheumatism, gout, arthritis and stress. Celery may also help with migraines, lower cholesterol, detoxify the body enough to help avoid cancer, enhance the function of some white blood cells, and also replace electrolytes after a good workout.